Flying a Vintage Glider | Flying Simon 

A six foot plus gliding friend of mine did his 5 hour endurance Silver C task flight in such an aircraft. We had to unfold him when he arrived back after a successful task.That was back in the mid 70s. I have flown an H17 Hutter twice. That is certainly an experience to not miss. Cheers from Downunder👍🇦🇺🇬🇧

Back in 1963 I started gliding with the Barossa Valley Gliding Club and our training glider was called a kookaburra. I soloed in it a year later then converted to a single seater which was called a kingfisher which looked similar to the Grunau Baby only it didn’t have wing struts plus it had an enclosed cockpit. I have many great memories from those days . Due to marriage and work and leaving the Barossa I stopped gliding. I still fly but now I own a single engine Jabiru and being retired at 75 it’s two to three times a week. I’ve got nearly three and a half thousand hours up now .

In 1982 I learned to fly gliders. While the rest of the world had moved onto fibreglass construction, these were wood and Canvas. If you get a chance, get a front seat in a Kirby Cadet mk3 and see what I experienced back then, and what my first solo at 16 years old with only 23 launches, experienced.

I feel very fortunate that my first flights were in aircraft like the Chipmunk and Gliders like the Kirby Cadet mk3 and the Sedberg, nicknamed the Barge due to it's great size. This was the joys of the Air Cadets in the early 80s. 20 years ago I was on the team that designed the Typhoon. Both ends of the technology spectrum.

Marvelous

Been there, done that at Camphill in my case in a Slingsby Prefect - -bloody marvellous!

I agree completely with your comments about feeling alive and needing to challenge one's self. Well done! I'm jealous!

Вообще огонь в желтом цвете!

Nice video, Simon!

Nice! Got a 1:2.5 scale Baby. The best option besides the real deal 😁

Great video Simon. I'm currently doing some work (when the CV19 lockdown lifts!) with my syndicate partner on our recently acquired Slingsby Skylark 3F. There's just something really special about the vintage aircraft, compared to the usual ASK's and SDZ's. We need to keep these kinds of aircraft flying for as long as possible. It is after all where it all started for the gliding world. I'm also lucky enough to sample our club K13 from time to time, which is 52 years old and still going well.

Another great Video with nice air to air footage! I am glad you enjoyed the grunau baby as much as I did in my club.

Yes, they were built in Brazil too, both in São Paulo and in Porto Alegre on Vae, the VARIG's sport club branch;

Superb Simon. Nice flared landing!

Awesome!! Cheers from Brasil! Na Base Gliding!

Hi there, lovely video!! My father flew a Grunau baby 2A at Brandkop in the Free State here in South Africa in 1948. It had no air brakes and he did S turns upwind of the field and a forward slip to lose the last bit of height for landing. Once, a large soaring bird formated off his wingtip and flew along with him for quite a bit. The people on the ground thought something had parted company and was dangling, so good was the formation between the bird and the glider!! The lift in the Free State is exceptional and many visiting pilots from Europe come and glide here. Much later I flew a Schleicher Ka-6e with the Cape Gliding Club - a wonderful light glider to fly - closed canopy though. I had many lovely flights in that, but penetration with these older gliders is not so good.

this made me smile

Well maintained ....... hope it survives for many more years !

You said that the span of the Grunau was 39 meters. I am sure that you meant 39 feet. Very nice video. Thank you for posting.

My first flight on our Cabrio Ka8 was also such a special experience!

I owned a Slingsby Prefect just over 30 years ago. The English version of the Grunau Baby. It included a wheel behind the skid and also had a straight lined fin and rudder. an absolute delight to fly For a short time it flew with the Cambridge University Gliding Club at Duxford Cambridgeshire. John. Maxine husband.

I still fly our Ka4 Rhönlerche at EBKH, I like it on a good day

Prefect :)

I have 35 types in my log book, the most obscure of which was a 2 seat glider called the Pelican flying at Waikerie in South Australia. I did my 5 hour flight in an Oly 2B on a cold day in October from a car beach launch.

I did my 5hrs ridge soaring a grunow 3 at the RAF Mendips Gliding Club. I was scratching for every bit of lift I could get when the late John Willy, who had just taken delivery of a new Dart 17, came back from trip round Somerset at about 2000 ft. He did a high speed pass bellow me and returned to the heights. Grrrr.

There is a Grunau Baby from 1952 at my gliding club (EDOR), still able to fly. :D Cool to see this type of plane in a YT video mate.

Hi Simon nice, video :-) I was looking forward to the Vintage glider day we were going to have this summer at the Bath Wilts and North Dorset Gliding club near Mere, Wiltshire in England, but it was of course cancelled due to COVID. I was hoping to fly a Slingsby T-21...Perhaps next year I will get a chance.... maybe you would like to come and bring your camera? Keep up the good work you have a good presentation style. Best wishes from the UK Andy :-)

My glider is only 51 years old. The Libelle 201 is still a respectful glider for club flying though. I don't think it's quite vintage yet. It is also the oldest glider that I have flown. I'm afraid that you have flown both older and newer gliders than I have. I fully agree with you. There's a bit of terror involved in flying a single-seater for the first time with no-more than the absolute best briefing you can get, right? Then again, I also agree that every new glider you fly, you gain insight that transfers towards flying something else new. You gain insight into what is different about your flight in being able to distinguish what is due to aircraft, due to atmosphere, and due to yourself. I've only flown 7 different models, and I have learned something with each one. I quite enjoy the learning, but that first flight is "exciting". Being outside of your comfort zone (within reason) is also being in the "learning" zone, and thankfully the more we learn, the better pilots we become.

Famous here in Brazil. Congrats

Between the 1930s and the 1960s, close to 200 Grunau Baby were built in Argentina.

I might i have beaten your 70 year old glider! Our T21 is 72! I would love to have a go in one! Great Video!

Nice video!

I read an article recently that said Slingsby would sell you one of these for £137 and 10 Shillings in 1939. That corresponds to less than £6500 in today's money. An amazing amount of fun for that money.

Great video with the air-to-air shots. Would love to fly the Baby one day, had a few flights in the T21 which were amazing as well. Next on the list: SG-38? :D

Man i mis my Gliding adventures.

Have you ever flown a vintage glider? Let me know which one!

When I was very young my Dad took me up in a Slingsby T21 from Paddington Aerodrome

No dihedral.... I like it...

Mooi vluchtje Simon op Gilze zo te zien, ik heb er ook gevlogen (ASK13 en Grob102)

Nice video... we just shared on Soaring Society of America's Facebook Page. Thank you!

i´m flying the Baby too, but a "little" model, it´s 4,6m span & powerfull elektric engine in the nose, so i can safely start in my dolomites in 2.500m ......-:)

No canopy ? Try the SG38 !

Hei Simon, where are you from?

ahem. You're _easy._